The feminine spirit: why pre-colonial Philippine shamanism was a woman's domain

Health · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In the pre-colonial Philippines, spiritual power was not about gender neutrality, but about embracing the feminine. While male shamans existed, they often adopted women's dress and roles to access the spirit world, creating a unique religious landscape where femininity served as the essential vehicle for divine communication.

In the indigenous spiritual practices of the pre-organisational Philippines, the role of the shaman—known variously as the babaylan, balian, or katalonan—was predominantly held by women. These practitioners served as vital mediums during rituals like the pag-anito séance, acting as intermediaries between the physical realm and a complex spirit world. Their expertise spanned herbalism, divination, and the management of spirits, both nature-bound and unbound.

While women predominated, a distinct class of male shamans existed, known as the asog in the Visayas or bayok in Luzon. These individuals often adopted the voice, hairstyles, and clothing of women. Historical evidence, such as the Bolinao Manuscript from 1685, reveals a massive statistical imbalance: during an Inquisition investigation between 1679 and 1685, of 148 people found with animistic items, 145 were female shamans and only three were male shamans. This suggests that spiritual potency was tied to identifying with the feminine rather than a gender-neutral space.

The path to shamanism often began with a 'shamanic illness'—a period of profound crisis involving seizures, depression, or even bouts of insanity. These were not viewed as mere ailments but as signs that a spirit had chosen the individual. To regain health, the initiate underwent rites, such as the Visayan tupad, to appease these spirits. This spiritual life was maintained through reciprocity, with shamative practitioners offering sacrifices of food, alcohol, and even animal blood to their 'abyan' (spirit companions) to ensure the spirits continued to guide and protect them.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• Anito: The Ancient Philippine Spirits That Dwell in Rocks, Trees, and Ancestral Memories
• Philippine mythology is a vast, non-unified tapestry of oral traditions and indigenous creation stories.
• The 106-year-old tattoo artist who redefined the limits of traditional Kalinga culture
• Was the supreme Tagalog deity Bathala a real god or a linguistic misunderstanding?
• Why Spanish colonizers called the Visayan people of the Philippines the Painted Ones
• The global shift toward self-determined legal gender identity
• Why your mood might be a slave to your internal clock
• Ancient Hindu texts reveal a complex, often contradictory, history of gender and sexuality
• The profound psychological cost of misgendering and systemic exclusion
• The systemic roots of violence and trauma in the LGBTQ community
• The branding of a math formula: the truth about Cronbach's alpha
• Why two doctors might see two different things in one patient

More in Psychiatry · More in Health · Latest · A–Z · All topics